The newly appointed vice-chancellor of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) Prof Sk Shariful Alam has entered his office for the first time since joining online on Sept 24 amid an indefinite campus shutdown over his appointment.
His arrival on Monday sparked conflicting accounts of how the locked administrative building was opened, with protesting students alleging that the lock was broken to allow him in.
Shariful, however, said the students themselves had opened it, while a campus Chhatra Dal leader claimed university staff had unlocked the building.
"I have come to the campus. I am working from the vice-chancellor's office. I have invited the heads of various departments and offices. I will sit with them to decide what needs to be done," Shariful told bdnews24.com.
Asked about the locked building, he said: "I came well before office hours. The main gate of the campus was open then. The administrative building was locked. The students themselves opened it."
Students have been protesting against Shariful's appointment following the removal of his predecessor, Prof Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, and have kept the university's academic and administrative activities at a standstill.
According to students who witnessed Monday's incident, eight to 10 current and former leaders and supporters of the Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chhatra Dal, the BNP's student wing, accompanied Shariful into the administrative building.
CUET Chhatra Dal President Wasif Rashed, however, said members of the organisation had gone to meet the vice-chancellor after learning of his arrival.
"After learning that the vice-chancellor had come to the campus, we, the students, went to meet him. We are students first and then Chhatra Dal leaders," he told bdnews24.com.
Asked about the allegation that the lock had been broken, Wasif said: "The administrative building's staff opened the lock. We went to meet the vice-chancellor much later."
Between 10 and 15 Chhatra Dal leaders visited the vice-chancellor's office, including joint general secretary Abu Sufian Al Sabit and organising secretary Biplob Hossain.
Sayem was removed as vice-chancellor on Sept 21, just 56 days after taking office. Shariful was appointed as his successor through an official notification issued the same day.
Students opposing the decision padlocked the administrative building that night.
They began an indefinite shutdown on Sept 22, boycotting classes and examinations.
Teachers, officers and employees have also held work stoppages and sit-in protests demanding Sayem's reinstatement.
The protests have brought the university's academic and administrative activities to a standstill.
Shariful joined the university online on Sept 24 and had been staying in Chattogram city before Monday's visit to the campus.